The bookstore at the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton has always been a favorite of mine.  It was always such a pleasure to leaf through the new books, but that bookstore has changed in two ways.

First, there are fewer books.  Of course, many books are now electronic, on Kindles, etc.  In addition, information is now cheap.  We drink information from a fire hose and learn less.  Increased information does not necessarily lead to increased understanding, unfortunately.  Books help!

Secondly, there must have been 6 or 7 six-foot tall racks on economics alone.  Now, there are only 3 racks.  However, the section on “political economy”or politics is huge.  There is more interest in politics and less in economics, which makes me sad.

The power of a good idea seems less now.  Only intolerant, unquestioning political power seems to matter.